SINGAPORE ENGLISH SPEAKERS' USE OF /T/-FLAPPING: INNOVATION, AMERICANISATION, OR BOTH?

Abstract

Although Singapore English (SgE) traditionally takes British English (BrE) as an exonormative standard, linguists note phonological developments consistent with “Americanisation”, like rising postvocalic rhoticity (Y. Tan, 2012), that some attribute to media influence. Starr (2019, 2021), however, argues that Americanisation of SgE phonology is limited, and that certain shifts may reflect independent innovations. This study examines /t/-flapping, a feature linked with American English (AmE), by comparing SgE speakers’ beliefs about word-internal AmE flapping against their own self-reported use. The investigation stems from informal observations that in SgE, decade numbers like forty and twenty are realised in ways that resemble flapped forms in AmE. In an online survey, 83 university-educated Singaporeans aged 18 to 25 reported their beliefs regarding how often AmE speakers use flapped or unflapped pronunciations for 39 words. They then indicated how likely they were to use each pronunciation for these same items. The wordlist represented environments where AmE flapping is obligatory, optional, or illicit. On average, respondents predicted flapping with 72.7% accuracy. Linear regression revealed a significant effect of greater U.S. media consumption (p=0.0350) on awareness, suggesting that media consumption has some value as a source of sociolinguistic knowledge. Yet, personal use of /t/-flapping was significantly predicted by local (p=0.0005) and non-local (p=0.0132) face-to-face AmE exposure, not media consumption (p=0.0813). Two-thirds of respondents report flapping at least one word, although unflapped variants remain predominant. Decade numbers were among the most frequently flapped. Although flapping environments differ between SgE and AmE, /t/-flapping in environments where it is illicit in AmE decreased with greater awareness of AmE flapping (p=0.0009) and local interpersonal AmE exposure (p=0.0244). Instead of straightforward “Americanisation”, it is proposed that SgE flapping may be an independent innovation, but that speakers with greater awareness of AmE flapping align their own flapping with this influential Inner Circle variety.